How to Get On Fire For God

This article is not what you think. I’m not going to tell you to read the Word more, pray and worship more, share Jesus more, or repent. Those things are great and should be a regular part of our Christian lives, but I am going to unlock a mystery to the fire of God that perhaps you’ve never thought of or known before.

My 20-year-old college son coined a phrase when he was in public high school: “When Jesus becomes real, everything changes.” That phrase registered real strong in my spirit when my son spoke it, and we included it in a father-son book we wrote together (My Son, My Son).

Think about the individuals that Jesus touched, healed, and revealed Himself to. Most of them exploded with fire at the personal revelation, of not only what Jesus did for them, but ultimately who He was.

For example, the woman at the well exploded with the revelation of Jesus as Messiah and testified with fire to the men of her city.

“The woman then left her water pot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?'” (John 4:28-29).

The leper, after being cleansed and made whole, and told to keep quiet about it, instead exploded with fire and blazed abroad what Jesus had done for him.

“But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter” (Mark 1:45, KJV).

After the crucifixion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were set on fire when Jesus revealed Himself to them at the breaking of bread.

“As He sat at supper with them, He took the bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the way and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’ They rose up and returned to Jerusalem at once. And they found the eleven and those who were with them assembled together, saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!’ Then they reported what had happened on the way, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:30-35).

The hearts of these two disciples burned at the revelation of who Jesus was. But notice what they did.

It was late in the evening and they had just walked about 7 miles from Jerusalem that day. They were tired. But when Jesus was revealed to them in the breaking of bread they were energized and set on fire. So what did they do? They went all the way back to Jerusalem to testify of the risen living Jesus. And I bet you they didn’t walk back. They ran.

The bottom line for getting on fire for God is a heart rending revelation of the Lamb of God. You might say, “I’ve already had a revelation of Jesus and I’m saved. But I’ve lost my fire.”

The bottom line for staying on fire for God is to be continually filled and baptized into the implications of who Jesus is to you personally.

The love of God was demonstrated throughout Jesus’ ministry, but the height of that love was demonstrated on the cross. The cup Jesus prayed over in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26, Mark 14, Luke 22) and eventually drank is the climax of the cross of Jesus Christ.

We tend to forget about that cup. It was filled with the wrath of God’s fury against all sin. God rolled the sin of the ages and the sin of all mankind upon Jesus. Visiting that reality of the spotless and innocent Lamb of God should pierce your soul and reignite your fire again.

The Western church has had a veil over the eyes of their heart because they’ve wandered from the purity of the gospel of the cross. The cup is a part of the cross and it what acts like a sword that cuts away the scales that cover our spiritual eyes so that we can see more of Christ.

When we see the fearfulness of God’s wrath and the exceeding sinfulness of our sin in that cup and how Jesus drank it, we will be awakened and compelled to live solely and wholly for His glory and the reward of His sacrifice.

In the garden, Scripture tells us that Jesus sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). It was not just a trickle of blood, but the Greek bears forth the meaning of “large, thick drops of clotted blood” falling to the ground. This happened before He even went to the cross.

In the garden Jesus was not agonizing over the physical suffering of the crucifixion that He was soon to face, but the fierceness of God’s wrath that was about to be poured upon Him for our sin. He knew the Old Testament Scriptures concerning the lambs being offered up as burnt offerings for the sins of the people. He knew about the fire of God’s wrath that consumed those burnt offerings.  

He knew of the Father’s plan that He had agreed to in eternity past to become the Lamb offering for man’s sin. He knew the Scriptures concerning the “cup of horror and desolation” (Ezek. 23:33), that was filled with the wine of God’s wrath (Jer. 25:15). He knew Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 53 of how He would be “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” with the punishment for our sins” (Is. 53:4).

He was wrestling in the garden with these images flowing and reeling in his mind.

He purposed to do the will of the Father and drink that cup. Why did He do it? Because He saw you and me. He didn’t want us to have to drink it.

He didn’t want us to drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out in full strength into the cup of the Father’s indignation. He didn’t want us to be tormented with fire and brimstone in His presence and in the presence of God’s holy angels forever (Rev. 14:10). He didn’t want us to “totter and be mad” from drinking the cup of God’s wrath (Jer. 25:16).

This He did—all for you and all for me. This glorious revelation of His amazing love is what God has chosen to transform you and set you on fire.

Now take a deep long look at the cup and be ignited with an unquenchable fire and passion for the Lamb and for the reward of His sacrifice.

Can we give Him any less?

 Bert M. Farias, revivalist and founder of Holy Fire Ministries, is the author of several books including The Real Spirit of Revival and the newly released, Prayer: The Language of the Spirit, as well as the highly acclaimed My Son, My Son—a beautiful father-son memoir co-written with his son Daniel for the purpose of training up a holy generation. He ministers interdenominationally and cross-culturally in nations, churches, conferences, crusades, on the streets, and in homes. He and his wife also host The Holy Ghost Forum—a school of the Spirit. Follow him at Bert Farias and Holy Fire Ministries on Facebook or @Bertfarias1 on Twitter.